


When James Met James

by abbynormal



Series: Steve and Darcy's Adventures in Parenting [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Daddy!Steve, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, Mind-Numbing Cuteness, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pregnancy, Winter Soldier Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1602461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbynormal/pseuds/abbynormal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it came time for Steve and Darcy to name their first-born son, there was no question as to who they would name him after. A prequel to "Just Like You".</p>
            </blockquote>





	When James Met James

There were many things that Steve Rogers was thankful for in this world. The first was that he had found Darcy. Sassy, funny, intelligent Darcy, who taught him all the pop-culture references he needed to know, cooked him mountains of food (but only after he agreed to do the dishes) and kept him sane when missions and SHIELD work became too much. The second was that, after a year of searching and another year of psychotherapy and rehabilitation, his best friend, James "Bucky" Barnes was (mostly) back to his normal self. He felt like he'd gained a missing piece of himself back the moment Bucky had looked at him with a small bit of recognition in his eyes and called him "punk" again. The third was that James and Darcy got on like a house on fire.

"You tried to kill my fiance," she'd said the first time they'd met, crossing her arms and raising an accusing eyebrow at Bucky.

A smirk had lit Bucky's face as he replied, "Yeah, well I saved his sorry ass so many times as a kid, so I think he'll get over it. I've got all the best stories about him though, so I suppose that's all I have to make it up to you."

Darcy laughed and they'd shook on it. Later, Bucky had clapped Steve on the shoulder saying sincerely "That one's a keeper, punk. Don't screw it up." 

Only a few months after this first meeting, Bucky was standing next to him as Darcy's short, balding father led her up the aisle. Steve knew he wouldn't have had the courage to get to this point without Bucky. As his best friend had said the night before he'd proposed to Darcy, when Steve had been pacing and letting his nerves get the better of him, "That concoction might have given you super strength, but you've still got no guts when it comes to girls." 

And as Darcy smiled up at him as they left the church, he knew that he'd be nowhere without the both of them.

~~~~~

Two years later he'd needed Bucky yet again when Darcy and a doctor's note had been waiting for him when he came home from work one dreary fall day. He was going to be a father, and while that made him the happiest he'd ever been, it also terrified him. Not only was he scared of what health issues the little spark of life inside Darcy might have, but of what sort of a father he would be. Being in the line of danger as part of his job just became a whole lot worse when he had not one, but two people depending on his return. And what sort of father could he be if he was always jetting off to remote parts of the world.

Bucky had promptly smacked him on the arm when he even mentioned the possibility of being a bad father. 

"Think that again, and I'll punch you with the other arm," he'd said, flexing his metal fingers threateningly.

Darcy's pregnancy was an incredibly new experience for Steve. He wasn't used to mood swings that landed him with a cranky or weepy wife at the drop of a hat, or the cravings that had him scooting out the door to find "insert weird food item here" at the grocery store a few blocks from their apartment. The happy moments, however, far outweighed the bad. In a fit of inspiration, he'd had Darcy taken out for the day by Pepper, Jane and Natasha for girlish pampering and converted the spare bedroom of their apartment into a whimsical nursery. Darcy always said his artistic talents would come in handy, and he'd raided the paint store to cover the walls in murals of brightly colored plants and animals. He covered the windows with floaty, green curtains that matched the color of the baby's crib mattress and changing table covers. The finishing touch was a cushy, comfortable rocking chair (tested and approved by both Pepper and Tony) where either he or Darcy could rock their child to sleep. 

Of course, when she came home to this surprise, 8-month pregnant Darcy had cried and informed him that hormones were not to blame for the tears this time. 

Bucky had even added his own touch to the nursery by bringing over a teddy-bear. He rubbed the back of his neck, red in the face as Darcy keeled over with laughter at the bear's shiny silver arm with a star on it. 

"I figured the kid would understand more about the arm if his toy had the same thing..." he trailed off, miserably trying to come up with a good explanation. Steve just smiled and knew Darcy would be carefully placing the bear in the crib the moment Bucky left.

 ~~~~~

A month after the "Bucky Bear" incident, Steve found himself in the back of an unmarked SHIELD car that had been loaned to him to get Darcy safely to the hospital, holding Darcy's hand and begging her to do the breathing exercises they'd learned with him. Darcy, however, found that it was more productive to swear colorfully at every contraction and put his hand in a death grip. Bucky was at the wheel, cursing under his breath at any other vehicles that dared get in his way, attempting to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible.  

It was a long night of Steve worrying, Bucky pacing in the waiting room, and Darcy alternating between needing Steve to hold her hand at all times and cursing him for "getting me into this mess in the first place". But at the end of the night, there was a squirming, crying bundle of joy in Darcy's arms and Steve felt like his world had been turned upside down and inside out because of how beautiful the sight of that was. 

The day after, once everyone had slept off the previous night's excitement, Steve was sitting with Darcy, talking quietly as to not wake the sleeping baby in her arms. Turning at the sound of what probably was the softest knock possible, Steve found Bucky standing nervously in the doorway with the "Bucky Bear" toy he'd probably snatched from the nursery on their way to the hospital. He motioned him in and Bucky shuffled over quietly.

Peering down over Steve, he looked at the small, pink face peeking out from the duck-covered blanket that had been a gift from Jane. 

"Wow," he marveled. "That's one swell looking kid you got there, punk."

"He really is Buck."

"Steve," Darcy said tiredly, "Why don't you let Bucky sit down for a minute so he can hold the baby."

"W-what, no it's fine," Bucky stuttered, looking even more nervous now. Steve knew that tone. Bucky really only got like this when he didn't trust himself with something. He often thought of himself as still dangerous, even though he'd been cleared by several teams of therapists a year ago.

"Sit down, jerk, she has something to tell you," Steve laughed, standing and offering the chair.

Bucky sat, and very very gently, Darcy settled the bundle into his arms. He stared down at the baby, still looking nervous as ever. 

"We've thought up a name, and we thought you'd like to be the first to hear it," Darcy said, smiling.

Bucky looked up at her, eyebrows raised in question.

Darcy smiled wider. "We've decided to name him James."

"After his godfather," Steve added. 

Bucky sat, looking from Darcy to Steve, speechless, a look of disbelief written across his face.

"You're joking," he said after a full minute of silence.

"Nope," said Darcy cheerfully. "You're our best friend, Bucky, and you've helped Steve through so much and been so supportive. We wanted to thank you for that."

"Wow," said Bucky again, not following it up with a clever remark this time. Instead, he looked back down at the bundle in his arms and said, "Well, nice to meet you, James."

In response, James opened his big, blue eyes and stared up at Bucky. He would deny it to the end of his days, but as he looked back at the baby in his arms, Darcy swore she saw tears in his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow that was fluffy.
> 
> I wrote "Just Like You" a looooong time before I even knew The Winter Soldier was even going to be a movie. So in order to tie it into the sequence of events and add Bucky Barnes to the picture, I figured a prequel was necessary. Hopefully I'll be able to write more in this series over the summer since I got a few requests on my first fic to continue in this universe.
> 
> Thanks for reading everyone!!


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